The night before the Day of Waving

Late 11th Century

About This Entry

This liturgical poem is a maariv for the evening service and was inserted into the blessings around the Shema‘ on the first night of Passover. Meir focuses on the offering of the omer sacrifice, the bringing of freshly harvested barley on the second day of Passover (as mentioned, for example, in Leviticus 23:12). In the mode of halakhic piyyutim, Meir describes this ritual in some detail. He also addresses another biblical instance of the word omer, to describe the volume of manna that descended for each Israelite (Exodus 16:16). Meir closes with a wish that Israel return to a renewed Temple in Jerusalem. The “Day of Waving” (yom henef) refers to the waving of the omer offering that was performed on the 16th of Nisan (Leviticus 23:12; m. Rosh Hashanah 4:3). Meir emphasizes the recitation of this poem as a verbal substitution for the original ritual, and a way to recall the glory of the Temple

The night before the Day of Waving, the count [of the omer] is made fit in the evening,

for Zion, the outcast, to call her sought out, to bring her healing,

gloriously built up, the delight of the heart and the eyes,

the dwelling place of God Most High, with ten high levels of holiness,¹

the joy of hearts, Lebanon, which whitens through savors that are sent [see Leviticus Rabbah 1:2]. Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God!

That we may seek your presence in the place that atones for misdeeds,

the roads to Zion beg to fulfill their function. Remove the stumbling blocks!

Untie the chains for the throngs of festive pilgrims to ascend and show their presence.

For the time has come to show kindness to it, without delay—

to offer the free-will firstling offering from nearby, with pure skirt-hems.²

Burst out, sing joyously together, O ruins of Jerusalem!

The emissaries of the judges of the land of prophecy were prompt to start ahead,

to head out already the previous day, to wrap up the green sheaves into bundles,

whether weekday or the Sabbath, its labors would be done in three, following the majority opinion.³

The nearby cities all assembled, to beautify it with a large to-do.

At nightfall, they would harvest it, and put it in baskets, to be brought to the Temple courtyard—

how lovely are Your dwellings, O Lord of hosts!

God’s goodness is doubled and redoubled for us, and we must tell it.

He made many omer-measures for us in the wilderness, but in exchange wanted only one [see Exodus 16:16].

It would be threshed and put into a hollow tube so that the fire would completely parch it.

Then they would spread it out in the Temple courtyard—their labor would be for the wind [to complete], for [God’s mercy] to be stirred up.⁴

So many packages of myrrh should be harvested for this supervisor,⁵

He keeps the rules of the weeks of the harvest [by making the wind blow].

It was prepared by being soaked, then gathered and crushed, lacking nothing,

sifted thirteen times, resulting in an ‘issaron measure.⁶

The priest would place its oil and its frankincense, pouring and mixing beautifully.

He would wave it, bring it near to the altar, take a fistful, salt it, and burn it as the memorial part [see Leviticus 2:2].

Then they would get their portion in it, from the crown of God’s table,⁷ as the leftovers of the gift,every male of Aaron’s progeny.

Once the omer had been offered, the streets of Jerusalem were full, crowned.⁸

Because the court is prompt, those at a far distance are permitted from noon onward.⁹

From a distance, as you mention the name of the Lord, your refuge, and you flow

to Jerusalem, the rebuilt—may it be in your hearts, O you timid with fear.

Be strong, and may you merit to hear the song that will be sung with uplifted voice

by the House of God, at the top of the mountains.

To Your House, beautiful in holiness, the habitation of praise, O merciful One!

The House of Lebanon Forest, which produces blossoms and ripe fruit.¹⁰

May the gold of Parvaim¹¹ no longer suffer misery in its fruits or blossoms,

when goodness is repaid to the progeny of Isaac.

I will glorify You by crowning my first fruits in baskets of gold, not of twigs.¹²

The Lebanon’s glory will be given to her,¹³ the Carmel’s beauty.

May the Dome of the Pyre be seen, O Salem [Jerusalem], as compensation all around you.

Your name is like your King’s name, your gates surround you like your tribes!

When you wear the beauty of your elders, all reclined around you, as your jewelry,

once again will you be adorned with your timbrels, played by your youths in your open spaces!

Your priests serve with your spring grain, and your Levites sing with your flutes!

Seek Jerusalem’s well-being; may those who love you be at peace!

You are so beloved, O Jerusalem, with your seventy gorgeous names,

as a city united together, you have guards appointed over your walls.¹⁴

They mention you, so that there will be mercy for you, to make you glorious in the land, to settle your desolate places,

with brotherhood and friendship, and God’s Temple high on the hill, as your beautiful features.

I speak, and seek good and well-being, as I describe your portions.

May there be well-being within your walls, and peace in your palaces!

Notes

[According to m. Kelim 1:6–9, there are ten areas of holiness in the world, where the lowest holiness is that of the entire land of Israel (which is holy beyond the mundanity of the rest of the world), and the remaining nine are all in Jerusalem: the whole city, then the Temple Mount, then areas within the Temple Mount.—Trans.]

[The omer offering is an obligatory communal offering, once a year, but nonetheless, according to Sifra Nedava 13:12: “If you bring it willingly, I will consider it as if it were a voluntary offering.” The author describes it as the firstling since it included a sheaf of the first crop of barley of the new season. The end of the line cites Lamentations 1:6, “her defilement is in her skirt-hems,” which may refer to the purity of the priests.—Trans.]

[The labors would be performed by three harvesters, with three sickles, into three baskets. This is the opinion of “the sages,” i.e., the majority, in m. Menaḥot 1:1; there is also a minority view that this is done only on a weekday, because on the Sabbath there would be only one harvester, one sickle, and one basket .—Trans.]

[See Leviticus Rabbah 28:2, which reads Ecclesiastes 5:15: “and what profit has he who has labored for the wind?” as referring to the labor of the omer offering, which must be dried by the wind, and then notes that this is true of all grain production—if one works hard to prepare the grain, one still must rely on God’s mercy to send wind to dry it.—Trans.]

[Based on b. Bava Meẓi‘a 86a, where a rabbi says that his daughter deserves many packages of spikenard in return for fanning him with a fan. How much more so, says our poet, does God deserve such compensation for causing the wind to blow!—Trans.]

[A liquid measure equivalent to approximately two quarts, about the same as an omer. —Trans.]

[Throughout rabbinic literature, it is stated that the priests get their portion from God’s table. Our poet extends the metaphor here by saying that they receive from “the crown of God’s table.” According to Exodus 25:24, the table in the Temple had a gold rim around it, called a “crown.” Thus, metaphorically, the priests, who receive the leftovers after the fistful has been burned on the altar, get their portion from the rim or “crown,” around God’s metaphorical table.—Trans.]

[I.e., the shops were full of grain from the new crop of the season. All this grain was forbidden for consumption until the offering of the omer. —Trans.]

[The court of Jerusalem can be assumed not to delay the goings-on in the Temple such that the omer would be offered any later than noon. Therefore, even people living far from Jerusalem, who do not have up-to-date news about when the omer was offered, are permitted to eat of the new crop starting at noon.—Trans.]

[According to b. Yoma 39b, the Temple was called “the House of the Lebanon Forest” because it produced blossoms and fruit. When Solomon built the Temple, he planted golden trees, and they produced fruit in season. This miracle ended when the Babylonians entered the Temple to destroy it, and all the fruits shriveled up.—Trans.]

[The type of gold that Solomon used to coat the Temple, according to 2 Chronicles 3:6. Our poet is reading the word Parvaim as related to perot, “fruit,” a reading that appears in Exodus Rabbah 35:1.—Trans.]

[According to m. Bikkurim 3:9-10, the poor would bring their first fruit offerings in baskets of twigs, and the rich in baskets of gold. In the messianic future, the Jewish people will be wealthy and will all bring their first fruits in baskets of gold.—Trans.]

[I.e., the Jewish people, or possibly the Temple itself.— Trans.]

[The language is from Isaiah 62:2, where it refers to guards over the physical walls of Jerusalem; but here, in the context of the next line, it seems to be referring to the Jews all over the world, who pray for Jerusalem.—Trans.]

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.